If you don't have a wide sweet spot, are you really an audiophile?


Hi, it’s me, professional audio troll. I’ve been thinking about something as my new home listening room comes together:

The glory of having a wide sweet spot.

We focus far too much on the dentist chair type of listener experience. A sound which is truly superb only in one location. Then we try to optimize everything exactly in that virtual shoebox we keep our heads in. How many of us look for and optimize our listening experience to have a wide sweet spot instead?

I am reminded of listening to the Magico S1 Mk II speakers. While not flawless one thing they do exceptionally well is, in a good room, provide a very good, stable stereo image across almost any reasonable listening location. Revel’s also do this. There’s no sudden feeling of the image clicking when you are exactly equidistant from the two speakers. The image is good and very stable. Even directly in front of one speaker you can still get a sense of what is in the center and opposite sides. You don’t really notice a loss of focus when off axis like you can in so many setups.

Compare and contrast this with the opposite extreme, Sanders' ESL’s, which are OK off axis but when you are sitting in the right spot you suddenly feel like you are wearing headphones. The situation is very binary. You are either in the sweet spot or you are not.

From now on I’m declaring that I’m going all-in on wide-sweet spot listening. Being able to relax on one side of the couch or another, or meander around the house while enjoying great sounding music is a luxury we should all attempt to recreate.
erik_squires
MBL 101 are great speakers ,if you have electronics that are powerful ,yet 
refined ,you also will need $100 k to start . From great monitors with subs 
that image better then most Big speakers ,
or big Electrostat panels that may not be realistic in instrument size but 
create a very good wall of sound , everyone has their favorite audio
parameters that keep them sitting for hours enjoying their music .
It’s  far from just the speakers though ,from  specific brand audio cables ,to power cords and electronics Everything counts ,and by changing one item 
sometimes can make or break the synergy .thats why when you get it where 
Its close to ideal just be thankful for it .
The lost focus and diffuse sound rob dynamics, focus, and tonality.


Not true. You just have to hear it done correctly and well. 

You still might not like it. It’s different and different strokes......



Hi Erik,
Have you heard of the Sumiko speaker setup method? I’ve been reading/hearing great things on the web. Apparently it drastically expands the sweetspot and stabilizes the image over a wider space. I’ll be trying to execute it in the next few days.
Bruno
I know about the dentist chair scenario... experienced it with a Wilson Chronosonic/ D'Agostino / & room DSP'd.
At the listening spot everything was razor sharp at the exact dead center in the sweetest spot. After a while I wanted to relax, and slouched a little in the chair. That few inches drop in height was already enough to yank me out from the sweet 3D spot, even though I was still dead centered between 2 speakers. Also, move head 1 inch to either side, and the 3d and EQ balance just both collapsed in a major way. Those unfortunate suckers in the rest of the room suffered the same. (After a few minutes, I gave up my seat and joined the suffering team... after all, we are all suckers in audio ; )
Now, that was a super narrow and tight dentist chair! Long live DSP (preferably limited to the car industry and appliances...)Indeed, a big part of being an audiophile is to get together with your buddies and listen to the music together, and talk stories. With that type of scenario you get a bad feeling in the mouth, excluding everyone from the fun but one.My speakers are omni, I can enjoy an uplifting experience that fills the room at the sofa, the floor, in front of one speaker, anywhere.
I love to stretch out on the carpet, and watch a movie from there. From that vantage point the screen fills up the entire field of vision.. :)  I have my "home theater" running from the 2 ch stereo. With the omni speakers it gives a much more coherent immersive experience than any gazillion speaker variant I heard.In general, when the speakers on axis and off axis response are super close, then the sweet spot will be wide. The bigger the on/off axis discrepancy, the  narrower the sweet spot

To me the 'audiophile' tag has more to do with the synergy of your gear inclusive of the room delivering certain nuances that appeal to you. If you can get that plus a wide sweet spot then you've achieved audio nirvana.  I certainly get that from my Ohms.